GTA 5 Endings

Endings	3, chosen by Franklin at the end of the story
Best choice	The Third Way
Replay	You can replay missions, but your choice stays

After The Big Score, Franklin gets two offers: kill Trevor for Steve Haines, or kill Michael for Devin Weston. He can also refuse both and take everyone on at once. This page explains what each choice does. It spoils the end of the story.

Crew members celebrate beside a dark helicopter on a dirt landing site.

The Big Score results screen reads Heist Passed with a $201,600,000 take.

The three endings compared

Ending	Option on screen	Who dies	Still playable	What happens to the money
Something Sensible	Kill Trevor	Trevor	Michael and Franklin	Trevor’s cut is split between Michael and Franklin
The Time’s Come	Kill Michael	Michael	Franklin and Trevor	Michael’s cut goes to his family
The Third Way	Deathwish	Neither of them	All three	Everyone keeps their cut

Which ending should you choose?

The Third Way. Nobody you’ve been playing dies, and you can carry on with all three characters after the credits. You also keep three accounts for the stock market and every side activity and friendship. It’s the ending most players treat as the true one.

A dark car pulls up outside a house at night with the objective to pick up Lamar.

A man in a white tee aims a rifle around a red wooden wall at a clifftop house.

A black sedan with a MONIED plate drives along a sandy coastal road above the sea.

Any ending counts toward 100% completion, so the other two aren’t a mistake if you’re curious. Save in a separate slot before the choice so that you can see them all. If you pick Something Sensible, you’ll also lose Trevor’s trailer and his Vanilla Unicorn safehouse. If you pick The Time’s Come, you lose the De Santa house.

Trevor's trailer kitchen, with an on-screen tip that you can save by sleeping in the bed.

The Save Game menu listing several numbered save slots with the option to create a new save.

Something Sensible: kill Trevor

Franklin meets Trevor, who first thinks this is about Michael. When Franklin draws a gun, Trevor drives away. Michael joins the chase and rams Trevor’s truck into a gas tanker. Franklin shoots the fuel, or Michael does if Franklin waits too long. Afterward, Michael tells Franklin that he needs some time apart.

A white sports car follows a distant red truck along a dark hill road at night.

A white car drives through the oil fields at night while a call from Michael shows on the phone.

A white car speeds down a dark road toward a fuel storage tank as a red truck moves ahead.

The Time’s Come: kill Michael

Franklin meets Michael and chases him up a tower at the Palmer-Taylor Power Station. You’re offered a choice to drop him or hold on, but the result is the same either way. Trevor and Amanda then cut Franklin off, and Michael is out of the game for good.

A man in a dark jacket faces a figure in a white tank top on a dirt road at night, near a lattice tower.

The objective reads Chase Michael as a figure in a white tank top walks past a white car at night.

A man in a light tank top climbs a metal walkway past a Restricted Area sign toward a striped tower.

Looking up a red-and-white tower at night, with the prompt to drop Michael or save Michael on screen.

The Third Way: Deathwish

Franklin goes to Lester, and they plan a trap at the foundry, using the gold as bait. Franklin, Michael, Trevor and Lamar fight off the FIB and Merryweather together. Then each of them hunts down one of their enemies: Stretch, Wei Cheng, Steve Haines, and finally Devin Weston. The mission page has the full walkthrough, and the story walkthrough shows where this fits.

Lester in a plaid shirt, seated at his desk, says to go to the foundry and get set up.

In the dim foundry, a man in a dark shirt looks at a staircase; the subtitle describes a setup for Merryweather and the FIB.

A man aims his pistol across the hazy foundry as a subtitle warns Merryweather is coming on the upper catwalk.

A dark sedan drives a freeway while a subtitle says Stretch is no longer a problem.

A red truck waits in a parking garage as a subtitle says Haines is dealt with and asks for a location on Devin Weston.

On a white terrace at the Weston compound, a man in a white tee aims at a fallen guard; the objective reads Kidnap Devin.

What can you still do after the ending?

Almost everything. The game keeps going, so you can finish side missions, collectibles and Lester’s remaining assassinations. If you were going for 100%, the required Strangers and Freaks missions all belong to Franklin, and he’s alive in every ending.